Labor and Social Protection

The global apparel industry has been forced to face some tough and unpleasant realities in recent years, and has been criticized for engaging in a “race to the bottom” especially as it relates to the conditions under which some garments are manufactured.

If you’re not already interested in livelihoods, you should be. Because livelihoods are the bottom line of development. Millions are spent on trying to build more effective states around the world, but development isn’t really about state capacity. At the end of those long causal chains and theories of change, there’s a person – an average Jo (sephine), a ‘little guy’. Making things work a little better for that person, making it easier for them to make their own choices and carve out a decent living…that is the why of development.

I met Gilford Jirigani at a workshop in Port Moresby a few months ago. What struck me about him was his natural confidence and poise as he captured the audience’s attention - including mine-as he told us how one project changed his life. He went from being an unemployed kid, down and out and unclear about his life in the city, to eventually becoming one of the pioneers of a youth program aimed at increasing the employability of unemployed youth in Port Moresby in 2012.

If the deluge of trend pieces tell us anything, it’s that the millennials are the most fussed over demographic in history. But behind the hype, there is real a tectonic shift. We are now witnessing the largest youth bulge in history. Over half the world’s population is now under thirty, with the majority living in developing and middle-income countries.

A youthful population can be source of creativity, innovation and growth –but only if employed and engaged in their societies. Unfortunately, for much of the world’s young people, reality is very different.

A number of hurdles prevent young people from contributing as productive, socially responsible citizens. As Emma Murphy of Durham University notes, “Poor education limits their skills, poor employment limits their transition to adulthood and political obstacles limit their voice and participation.”

The longer young people are excluded from participating in their economic and political systems, the further we are from realizing the ‘demographic dividend’.

​It’s a no-brainer. A youth agenda, focusing on the issues that affect young people, must be a critical piece of any post-2015 framework. Where do we start?

People in developing countries, much like people everywhere, save. And in Sub-Saharan Africa, beyond banks, folks save through a bunch of techniques -- ranging from the less sophisticated under the mattress savings to the more complex community-based rotating savings and credit associations (ROSCAs). Given this plethora of savings options, one might wonder if an NGO program that set up savings groups but injected no capital or lockboxes or any other capital intensive intervention might make a

When we first set out to answer some basic questions facing policymakers in Uzbekistan, we were unsure what exactly to expect. Little was known about worker skills in Uzbekistan until last year, when two surveys were carried out by international partners. One survey (a joint effort between GIZ and the World Bank) assessed cognitive, non-cognitive, and technical skills of the working age population by interviewing 1,500 households. A second survey (commissioned by the World Bank) interviewed 232 enterprises employing higher education graduates and used a mix of qualitative and quantitative methods to assess employer satisfaction with workers’ skills.

When we first set out to answer some basic questions facing policymakers in Uzbekistan, we were unsure what exactly to expect. Little was known about worker skills in Uzbekistan until last year, when two surveys were carried out by international partners. One survey (a joint effort between GIZ and the World Bank) assessed cognitive, non-cognitive, and technical skills of the working age population by interviewing 1,500 households. A second survey (commissioned by the World Bank) interviewed 232 enterprises employing higher education graduates and used a mix of qualitative and quantitative methods to assess employer satisfaction with workers’ skills.

It is said short absence quickens love, long absence kills it. This is not always true in reality. One case is remittance behavior of long-term migrants. The remittance literature argues that the amount of remittances sent by migrants to their countries of origin declines through time. Reunification of families or breakdown of family ties underpins such behavior. However, the empirical evidence is not all supportive. The passage of time does not significantly influence migrant remittance behavior. Remittances are maintained at high levels over long periods. This allays concern that economies dependent on remittances will face foreign exchange shortages and falling living standards as remittance levels fall because of reduced migration rates and decline in migrants' willingness to remit over time.

People, Spaces, Deliberation bloggers present exceptional campaign art from all over the world. These examples are meant to inspire.

Last week Kailash Satyarthi, a human rights activist from India who has worked at forefront of the global movement to end child slavery and exploitative child labor since 1980, won the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize. Satyarthi is the founder of Bachpan Bachao Andolan, a grassrots organization that works to save children from trafficking, slavery, and child labor and to rehabilitate them through education. He is credited with saving more than 80,000 children from these practices, and his organization has led the world’s largest civil society campaign - the Global March Against Child Labour.

The following video from Bachpan Bachao Andolan focuses on child trafficking in the form of sexual exploitation and urges viewers and passersby #dontlookaway.

Have you ever tried to concentrate on an empty stomach? On World Food Day, we reflect on the link between healthy and nourished children and its effects on learning. Healthy and nourished children are better able to learn at school and attend classes more often. A meal at school can act as a magnet to get children into the classroom and as a social safety net to help the world’s most vulnerable families.